Merry Christmas, Holly Jolly Mint Coffee, and Family Gatherings!

 Hello out there!

 Merry Christmas! 

Peace and blessings to you and yours on this beautiful day the Lord has made!

I have all these thoughts, and memories, and stories to share! This will definitely be one of my all over the place blog posts - probably not in any type of order! 

I didn't take the time to sit down and type any stories during the Advent Season, the time of preparation. I told Jim last night that my plan for today, the day after Christmas, is to catch up on laundry and blog! 

I got up this morning, made the bed, cleaned the microwave, got a load of laundry washing, paid some bills over the phone, and sat down to blog...Jim called and asked if I would make some sandwiches and bring out to the job site about 12:30 where he, our son, and grandson are working. I said yes, of course, but it will probably be closer to 1:00 pm. In my mind I was thinking - "This is why I never get to blog anymore!" But I am going to finish this blog post today - I'll just have to step away for a little bit!

Our lives are full of stories; like a patchwork quilt or a huge puzzle. Each patch and puzzle piece represents a small part of our lives - memories, traditions, family, work, vacations, happy times, sad times, and hopefully, much love and laughter! 

I'll share a quick story from long ago before I take a break to make some sandwiches and deliver them to my hungry, hard working, guys!

When my kids were young we would sometimes go and visit my mom's best friend who lived about 90 miles away. She and I stayed close after my mom passed away and was very special to me. She and her husband were both retired teachers and he was also a farmer. Lucille was a wonderful cook. Her fried okra was the best! She always cooked a big breakfast and dinner. One time while we were visiting it was getting close to noon and we were out running errands. I asked Lucille if we needed to get back home so we could fix Hank some lunch. She laughed and said, "Sharla, I told Hank along time ago, that I married him for better or worse, but not for lunch!" I laughed and laughed! She told me that he was probably at the domino hall with the other farmers and would order a hamburger from the place next door. Yes, there are times I repeat that message to Jim, but not today. So I'm taking a "lunch making break" and I plan on finishing this post when I get back home!

I made turkey sandwiches, with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese, and a slice of pepper jack cheese. Two with miracle whip and one with real mayo and mustard! I added chips, cookies, and three little cutie oranges to the bag along with napkins! They have drinks in their ice chest. I drove out to where they were and just sat in my car a minute and watched them work. Three generations - Jim was standing on a tall ladder next to some scaffolding that our grandson was standing on and they were adjusting a heavy piece of channel iron and clamping it to the upright. Our son was on the opposite side of the carport on another tall ladder. I said a prayer and took some pictures. A scene from a movie we watched years ago popped into my head. If you've seen, "Betsy's Wedding" with Alan Alda and Madeline Kahn, the parents in the movie, you might remember when she takes him lunch and the ladder falls and he's hanging from the roof...yep, thankful for our Guardian Angels! And thankful none of my guys were  hanging from the roof!

I've got to share my new coffee recipe - I'm calling it, "Holy Jolly Mint Coffee!" Large mug of coffee (I use Folgers), one packet of Splenda, a splash of Half and Half and four - six Jr. Mints. Super yummy! We had some left over boxes of candy from our Bingo game prizes on Christmas Eve. I found a box of Jr. Mints that was still half full while I was zapping a cup of coffee in the microwave yesterday afternoon. I decided to add a couple to my coffee to see how it would taste and I liked it. This morning I did the same thing and decided that it would be a Christmas Coffee tradition! The Jr. Mints would probably taste great in hot cocoa also! 

I love the Season of Advent, all the preparations, the lights, the decorations, sending out Christmas Cards, singing Christmas carols, and baking, etc. I am blessed to have a large family. One of the things I learned this year is to not worry so much about planning and having exact time schedules. To go more with the flow of everyone's activities and just enjoy the time we do spend together. Whether it's all of us at once, or some of us one day and the rest of our family on another day. Our grandchildren are growing up! Jim and I were blessed to spend time with all of our children and grandchildren during this past week, some on different days, but that was okay.  Our son, who lives out of town, arrived with his daughters on Saturday and left on Monday morning. We had a wonderful visit! Our other children and some of their children dropped by at different times. We laughed and shared memories, we hugged, ate good food and desserts, and went to Mass. We love being at Mass with our children and grandchildren! Such a huge blessing!

Our Christmas Eve gathering moved back to during the day instead of the evening. Our daughter and her family, and son and his family, who all live here were able to be with us. We ate, played bingo for prizes, had a table set up for decorating cookies, and/or cones like Christmas trees. Icing and sprinkles galore! The older kids played pickle ball outside, although a couple of times I looked out and thought it looked more like dodge ball! The three youngest granddaughters took turns holding our statue of baby Jesus before I laid him in the creche, with the statues of Mother Mary and Joseph on each side. My  young granddaughters asked me where "everyone else" was? I have a large Nativity Scene that includes an Angel, the Three Wise Men, a donkey, cow, and lambs. This year I only have the Holy Family out front. I told them I just decided to keep it small. They weren't impressed with that answer. Christmas is more than just one day, and "everyone else" may show up this weekend! Or not! We'll have to see what happens! One more thing! Our son-in-law came inside the house and told me that there was a chicken on top of my roof! He showed me a picture he took, and sure enough, one of my little hens was on the roof! Life at the Ynostrosa Hacienda is always full of surprises!

On Christmas Day, Jim and I went to the mid-morning Mass. It was beautiful. My heart swelled as I saw all the families, the children, people I've never seen before, and people I see all the time. Mass is always such a blessing; the Nativity Scene, wreathes, Christmas trees with white lights, poinsettias, and all the decorations, my favorite Christmas Hymns, the readings, and communion, I love it all. 

Luke 2:15-20

When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

I pray that you are blessed throughout this whole Christmas Season. Our decorations will stay up through the Epiphany. On these short days, where it gets dark so early, the extra lights I have throughout our home give off a special warm glow. The hustle and bustle of shopping is over. Take some time to enjoy the peace of the season. I call this the, "All is calm, all is bright" time. Fix yourself a cup of Holly Jolly Mint Coffee! Or Half Coffee and Half Cocoa - I call that the Holiday Blend! 

It's 6:14 pm - I started writing this post at 11:30! I hit save every time I had to stop writing and go with the flow of life and daily activities. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my stories - may God send them wherever they need to go. 

Peace and blessings to you and yours, near and far, wherever you are!

Bye for now, Sharla